60 DAY DHS FRN Civil Rights

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 224 / Thursday, November 19, 2020 / Notices
Health, Building 33, Room 1N24, 33 North
Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892,
[email protected], 301–761–6362.
(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance
Program Nos. 93.855, Allergy, Immunology,
and Transplantation Research; 93.856,
Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Research, National Institutes of Health, HHS)
Dated: November 13, 2020.
Tyeshia M. Roberson,
Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory
Committee Policy.
[FR Doc. 2020–25512 Filed 11–18–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
[Docket Number DHS–2020–0047]

Agency Information Collection
Activities: DHS Civil Rights Evaluation
Tool 1601–0024, DHS Form 3095
Department of Homeland
Security, (DHS).
ACTION: 60-Day notice and request for
comments; extension without change of
a currently approved collection, 1601–
0024.
AGENCY:

The Department of Homeland
Security, will submit the following
Information Collection Request (ICR) to
the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and clearance in
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995.
DATES: Comments are encouraged and
will be accepted until January 19, 2021.
This process is conducted in accordance
with 5 CFR 1320.1.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by docket number Docket #
DHS–2020–0047, at:
Æ Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://
www.regulations.gov. Please follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the agency name and
docket number Docket # DHS–2020–
0047. All comments received will be
posted without change to http://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided.
Docket: For access to the docket to
read background documents or
comments received, go to http://
www.regulations.gov.
SUMMARY:

Recipients
of federal financial assistance from the
Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) are required to meet certain legal
requirements relating to
nondiscrimination and
nondiscriminatory use of federal funds.
Those requirements include ensuring
that entities receiving Federal financial

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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assistance from the Department of
Homeland Security do not deny benefits
or services, or otherwise discriminate on
the basis of race, color, national origin,
disability, age, sex, or religion, in
accordance with the following
authorities:
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 (Title VI) Public Law 88–352, 42
U.S.C. 2000d–1 et seq., and the
Department’s implementing regulation,
6 CFR part 21 and 44 CFR part 7, which
prohibit discrimination on the grounds
of race, color, or national origin by
recipients of Federal financial
assistance. Title VI, through its
prohibition against discrimination on
the basis of national origin, requires
recipients to take reasonable steps to
provide meaningful access to persons
who are limited English proficient
(LEP). See Guidance to Federal
Financial Assistance Recipients
Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against
National Origin Discrimination
Affecting Limited English Proficient
Persons, 76 FR 21755–21768 (April 18,
2011).
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 (Section 504), Public Law
93–112, as amended by Public Law 93–
516, 29 U.S.C. 794, which prohibits
discrimination on the basis of disability
by recipients of Federal financial
assistance.
• Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), 20
U.S.C. 1681 et seq., and the
Department’s implementing regulations,
6 CFR part 17, and 44 CFR part 19,
which prohibits discrimination on the
basis of sex in education program and
activities received Federal financial
assistance.
• Age Discrimination Act of 1975,
Public Law 94–135, 42 U.S.C. Section
6101 et seq., and the Department
implementing regulation at 44 CFR part
7, which prohibits discrimination on the
basis of age by recipients of Federal
financial assistance.
• U.S. Department of Homeland
Security regulation 6 CFR part 19,
which prohibits organizations that
receive financial assistance from DHS
for a social service program from
discriminating against beneficiaries on
the basis of religion or religious belief,
a refusal to hold a religious belief, or a
refusal to attend or participate in a
religious practice.
The aforementioned civil rights
authorities also prohibit retaliatory acts
against individuals for participating or
opposing discrimination in a complaint,
investigation, or other proceeding
related to prohibited discrimination.
DHS has an obligation to enforce
nondiscrimination requirements to

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ensure that its federally assisted
programs and activities are
administered in a nondiscriminatory
manner. In order to carry out its
enforcement responsibilities, DHS must
obtain a signed assurance of compliance
and collect and review information from
recipients to ascertain their compliance
with applicable requirements. DHS
implementing regulations and the
Department of Justice (DOJ) regulation
Coordination of Non-discrimination in
Federally Assisted Program, 28 CFR part
42, provide for the collection of data
and information from recipients (see 28
CFR 42.406).
DHS uses DHS Form 3095: DHS Civil
Rights Evaluation Tool as the primary
tool to implement this information
collection. DHS is seeking an extension
of the form for another three-year
period. DHS is not proposing any
changes to the information collected in
the form but is proposing changes to
Section 1 of the form on instructions to
streamline the process for submitting
the completed form.
DHS uses the form to collect civil
rights related information from all
recipients of federal financial assistance
from the Department. Recipients are
non-federal entities that receive federal
financial assistance in the form of a
grant, cooperative agreement, or other
type of financial assistance directly from
the Department and not through another
recipient or ‘‘pass-through’’ entity. This
information collection does not apply to
subrecipients, federal contractors
(unless the contract includes the
provision of financial assistance), nor
the ultimate beneficiaries of services,
financial aid, or other benefits from the
Department.
Recipients are required to provide the
information 30 days from acceptance of
award. Recipient of multiple awards of
DHS financial assistance only submit
one completed form for their
organization, not per award. Recipient
are required to complete the form once
every two years if they have an active
award, not every time a grant is
awarded. Entities whose award does not
run a full two years are required to
provide the information again if they
receive a subsequent award more than
two (2) years after the prior award. In
responding to Section 4: Required
Information, which contains the bulk of
the information collection, if the
recipient’s responses have not changed
in the two year period since their initial
submission, the recipient does not need
to resubmit the information. Instead, the
recipient will indicate ‘‘no change’’ for
each applicable item.
The purpose of the information
collection is to advise recipients of their

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 224 / Thursday, November 19, 2020 / Notices

civil rights obligations and collect
pertinent civil rights information to
ascertain if the recipient has in place
adequate policies and procedures to
achieve compliance, and to determine
what, if any, further action may be
needed (technical assistance, training,
compliance review, etc.) to ensure the
recipient is able to meet its civil rights
requirements and will carry out its
programs and activities in a
nondiscriminatory manner.
Over the past three years, DHS has
used the information collected via the
DHS Civil Rights Evaluation Tool to
identify gaps and deficiencies in
recipient programs and directly help
recipients address these gaps and
deficiencies by providing technical
assistance on developing or improving
policies and procedures to prevent
discrimination and ensure accessibility.
DHS requires recipients to submit
their completed forms and supporting
information electronically, via email, to
the Department, in an effort to minimize
administrative burden on the recipient
and the Department. DHS anticipates
that records or files that will be used to
respond to the information collection
are already maintained in electronic
format by the recipient, so providing the
information electronically further
minimizes administrative burden. DHS
allows recipients to scan and submit
documents that are not already
maintained electronically.
If the recipient is unable to submit
their information electronically,
alternative arrangements will be made
to submit responses in hard copy.
DHS is pursuing further streamlining
of the submission process through
development of an online portal that
would allow recipients to submit the
data directly in a fully electronic form
and eliminate the need for recipients to
email the form and supporting
documents as attachments.
The information collection will
impact some small entities (e.g., nonprofit service providers, local fire
departments, etc.), however as described
in response to Question 2, recipients
will only be required to provide this
information once every two years, not
every time a grant is awarded.
Additionally, in responding to Section
4: Required Information, if the
recipient’s responses have not changed
in the two year period since their initial
submission, the recipient does not need
to resubmit the information. This will
dramatically reduce the administrative
burden on recipients after the initial
submission. Additionally, DHS will
further minimize burden on recipients
by making available sample policies and
procedures to assist recipients in

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completing Section 4 of the Form, and
providing technical assistance directly
to the recipient as needed.
In accordance with the authorities
identified in Question 1, the Department
is required to obtain a signed assurance
of compliance from recipients and to
ensure that its federally assisted
programs and activities are
administered in a nondiscriminatory
manner. If the information collection is
not conducted or is conducted less
frequently, the Department will not be
able to fulfill its obligations to ascertain
recipient compliance and enforce
nondiscrimination in recipient
programs. This could lead to the award
of federal financial assistance to
recipients that are not complying with
federal civil rights law, and the
perpetuation of discrimination in the
provision of benefits and services to
members of the public.
There are no confidentiality
assurances associated with this
collection. The only privacy-sensitive
information the form collects are the
names of Point of Contacts (POCs) from
recipient organizations. Coverage for the
collection of this information is
provided under a Department Privacy
Impact Assessment, DHS/ALL/PIA–006
General Contacts List.
DHS is seeking an extension of the
form for another three-year period. DHS
is not proposing any changes to the
information collected in the form but is
proposing changes to Section 1 of the
form on instructions to streamline the
process for submitting the completed
form. The changes to Section 1 do not
impact the burden analysis. The
changes in costs in Item 14 reflect
increased hourly rates for Federal staff
as reported by Office of Personnel
Management for 2020, as well as an
increase in the number of staff
participating in the review process.
Despite these increases, because the
number of recipients subject to the
collection has decreased from the
previous reporting period, the total costs
reported in Item 13 and 14 have also
decreased.
The Office of Management and Budget
is particularly interested in comments
which:
1. Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility;
2. Evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;

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3. Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and
4. Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
e.g., permitting electronic submissions
of responses.
Analysis
Agency: Department of Homeland
Security, (DHS).
Title: DHS Civil Rights Evaluation
Tool.
OMB Number: 1601–0024.
Frequency: On Occasion.
Affected Public: State, Local and
Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents: 2929.
Estimated Time per Respondent: 1
Hour.
Total Burden Hours: 11716.
Robert Dorr,
Executive Director, Business Management
Directorate.
[FR Doc. 2020–25543 Filed 11–18–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9112–FL–P

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–6210–N–02]

Notice of Regulatory Waiver Requests
Granted for the Second Quarter of
Calendar Year 2020
AGENCY:

Office of the General Counsel,

HUD.
ACTION:

Notice.

The Department of Housing
and Urban Development Reform Act of
1989 (the HUD Reform Act) requires
HUD to publish quarterly Federal
Register notices of all regulatory
waivers that HUD has approved. Each
notice covers the quarterly period since
the previous Federal Register notice.
The purpose of this notice is to comply
with the requirements of the HUD
Reform Act. This notice contains a list
of regulatory waivers granted by HUD
during the period beginning on April 1,
2020 and ending on June 30, 2020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
general information about this notice,
contact Aaron Santa Anna, Associate
General Counsel for Legislation and
Regulations, Department of Housing and
Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW,
Room 10282, Washington, DC 20410–
0500, telephone 202–708–5300 (this is
not a toll-free number). Persons with
SUMMARY:

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